Work Text:
Pairing: Josephine March/Theodore Laurence (Little Women, 1994)
Setting: when Laurie first sees the March girls, and then later
They were a sight to see, there was no question about that, but one of the March girls in particular caught Laurie’s eye. He had heard that the eldest, Margaret, was considered the beauty of them all, and he couldn’t argue the fact she was worth more than a glance, but looks were not everything. Her younger sister, the second of the four, Josephine, was beautiful in her own way. Something in her eyes and her smile, it made Laurie’s breath catch in his throat and his heart seem to skitter. She had a spirit about her, he could tell, even from the window. He just knew that, given the chance to talk, to get to know each other, something truly special could exist between them.
Since his studies did little to entertain him, Laurie often sat and daydreamed his time away. From the moment he first saw the March sisters, he could not seem to help but wonder at what meeting them would be like. What he would say, what they would say, how they all might act. They seemed to have such personality, such wit and charm, and Josephine, most of all, intrigued him.
Those daydreams he conjured by the fireside expanded in his mind when he slept that night. Laurie saw himself much older and Josephine alongside him in much the same way. He had courted her, they had fallen in love, and were now wed. It was Christmastime again, as it was in reality, but the years had spun on, and they had their own home, just the two of them.
In his dreams, Laurie saw them clearly, outside in the crisp winter air, throwing snowballs and laughing until their sides ached. Then inside, by the roaring fire, curled together on the rug, leaning in at the same moment, the mistletoe overhead all the encouragement they needed...
Of course, that was when he woke up, sighing and bemoaning the fact that all of what he had pictured, experienced, enjoyed was all in his mind. All that was real was her pretty face, the beaming smile of Josephine March, with only the reputation of a winning personality and innate good humour, until such time as Laurie had a chance to officially meet her.
Until then, he would have to content himself with dreams, and so he did, by day and by night. In fact, even after they were introduced, becoming fast friends, as close as any two people anywhere, he was sure, Laurie continued to dream of their future.
He never spoke of it, not once to Jo, as the days and weeks turned into months and years. It was too much and too soon, he was well aware, but from the beginning he had known she was his destiny, his fate, his everything.
The March family had welcomed him in as one of their own, and truly, he did love them all. The dreams in his head began to include all of that dear family, up to a point. Sharing a day of laughter and fun, a sumptuous meal and much thoughtful prayer, giving thanks for all they had together.
Still, later on, those dreams were for Laurie and Jo alone. He saw them together each time, just the same. The snowball fight that now always ended with them breathless in each other’s arms and kissing. The fireside, curled up together, reading to each other in foolish voices, then laughing until they cried tears of joy, their faces so close, it was inevitable that they would once again fall into each other’s warm embrace.
“It won’t always be a dream,” he said to himself, gazing out of the window once more, as Jo and her sisters trudged out into the snow. “When the spring comes,” he promised himself, his daydreams turning towards flowers, sunshine, and a proposal.